Type B Xectites
An independent group of their own, the always growing and seemingly impossible to fully destroy horde of Type-B Xectites derives from an artificially mutated strain of the original Voidian Type-A Xectites. They are highly intelligent compared to their predecessors, known to be able to speak in short sentences with limited vocabulary, build small structures, and wield blunt objects as weapons- as well as organize timed attacks and deploy basic battle tactics. They also have an unclear relationship with the Voidian Neural Parasite, previously required to cause infection, but its no longer certain whether the parasite itself is necessary, as many Type-Bs appear lacking a visible parasite. Obsessed with an endless hunger to replicate their own kind, they engage in various murders and kidnappings wherever their hives are found, typically preying on the weak or isolated. Origin: Protection Center 11 DCA Helix Divison, Project 87 (Phoenix) The story of the Type-B begins during the height of Dominion occupation over earth in Protection Center 11, a former urban metropolis with extensive and complex architecture, which was then reduced to little more than a decaying slum for the citizens and Civil Workers Union alike. Rats freely roamed the streets, the scarcely maintained sewers were dumping grounds for bodies and other wastes. A majority of the cities resources went into the nexus, which was more intricate and advanced than the former city itself. Thus, the city offered ideal grounds for scientific experimentation and research. An advanced nexus provided all essential equipment, anything could be tested on the closely packed citizens without much notice, and any failed ideas weren't too difficult to keep a lid on. The various divisions of Protection Center 11 often produced beneficial medicines and other impressive discoveries both about Voidian creatures and the human body, often at the expense of the cities civilians. They grew a reputation as something of a research powerhouse during the IDn's occupation, and eventually attracted the attentions of Ambassador Whalen himself. Whalen, eager to do all he could to impress the IDn in the attempt to prove humanities worth, assigned Protection Center 11 a rather difficult task. Somewhere in between Whalens diplomatic obligations, eventually word reached him (Likely from one of his lesser peers) that Voidian "Neurosites" had the unique property of reanimating the dead, as long as most of their brain and vital organs were relatively in-tact. To harness this property would radically change the very reach of human life, a goal chased by many since the beginning of time. Perhaps, with the Dominion's oversight, this aim would finally be possible. Whalen commissioned Protection Center 11 to find out all they could about extracting life from death through the properties of the Neurosite. The Sectoral in Protection Center 11 was notified that his Helix department was the prime candidate for the success of this project. The project was dubbed by Whalen as Project 87, by Protection Center 11 as Project Phoenix. Experimentation began right away. The abandoned parts of the city were swept clean of any and all Xectite specimens, the few of them found were herded into transports and brought to the nexus laboratories. Live, Dead, and anything in-between human subjects were also needed for these experiments. Since there was little to no resistance in Protection Center 11, there was no waiting line of Amputees to pick from. The HELIX division, eager to prove their worth to their Sectoral, began finding any and all excuses to charge citizens with crime violations for a period of 3 weeks. Citizens with the smallest offense on their record were dragged away in the middle of the night by HELIX as well as CORE, all who vouched for one another upon any questioning. The Sector, as eager as the rest of them, let these unfair atrocities slide, understanding the need for subjects. In a brief few weeks, 42 subjects were herded into the nexus. All was ready to begin. Catastrophe 20 of the citizens were taken the first week, and in groups of two, were all put into certain arbitrary "Conditions" of body functionality. Two citizens were left untouched, being rated at 100% functionality. Another two were mildly beaten, with only cuts and body bruising, rated around 90%. Another two had broken bones, another two sustained gun-shot wounds, all in lower ratings as finally the last two were horribly beaten, mutilated, shot, and burned until death at 0%. The HELIX were testing how much abuse a human host could take before the Neurosites could not use or re-animate them. They also carefully observed the re-animation and brain control process of the Neurosites over time. Some of their observations were as followed: *Brain Activity Halved, several organs become inflamed and hyperactive *Digestive system appears to slow or stop entirely *All cells mutate in a fashion that prevents typical decay, describable only as a liquid mummification *Partial to Full pain suppression derived from unknown means, allowing the use of otherwise shattered body-parts *Rapid construction and repair of broken bone material, bound and/or replaced with a hard cartilage-like material *Vocal Cords and Organs Such as Appendix and Liver begin to shrink *Loss of balance and senses due to mixed and lessened brain activity *Blood rapidly clots at wounds, calcifies and heals exponentially *Green-yellow fluid produced from the heart alongside blood, fluid appears integral to reanimation and regeneration process, also a possible nutrient to parasite *Any and all bodily systems unrelated to physical movement cease to work or exist at a minimum capacity They had concluded the Neurosite host was thriving off a yellow fluid produced by the hosts heart. This fluid could only be produced if the subject continued to physically move, pumping blood and oxygen through the body. Even the test subjects at 0% functionality began to move once more, although not walk- as the Xectite had managed to start up and focus all bodily efforts on organs beneficial only to the parasite. If the DCA could counter the adverse effects of this resurrecting yellow fluid, and advance it to a point of practicality, they would have their success. HELIX began to extract the blood and yellow fluids being produced from the infected subjects, and with the remaining 22 untouched citizens, began a mix of trials and failures. They made corrections test by test- adding chemicals to the blood mixture to try to reduce inflammation of the organs, stop torso rupturing, keep brain control and balance, and several other wild guesses. Eventually they seemed to have partially succeeded. The 19th Citizen was killed with drugs, and brought back through the chemically altered Xectite blood. Their organs stayed as they were and began to function once more, and while parts of their brain could not be brought back, brain activity was still registered where it was once observed as completely dead. HELIX assumed that the MBI could "fill in the gaps" for dead parts of the brain, and brought their results to the Sectoral. Approved to proceed, the chemical compound was injected into a deceased Ascension unit terminated by bullet wounds to the lungs. The HELIX units observed with excitement, watching as the monitors connected to the HAF began showing body and brain activity. The chemical based on the Xectite yellow fluid, without the guidance of the Neurosite, brought life back into the dead HAF units heart, pumping throughout its body and restoring several organ systems. Though what happened next would spell the end for the project. While the viral chemical didn't directly harm the systems of the body in any way, the re-animated bodies immune system would not accept the chemically altered virus, attacking it on all levels as a foreign intruder. It appeared that the parasite itself played an integral role in stopping the host from trying to destroy itself once infected. The HAF unit began to violently tear itself open, making gargled shouts of pain. The unit literally ripped it's own heart out, and the muscles that contained its HAF augmentation began to foam and dissolve, twitching long after the unit had died. After several more months of trying to correct this horrendous disaster, there seemed to be no solution. The Neurosite was an essential mediator, and the units could not artificially replicate the role it filled. All Protection Center 11 had done was create an infectious form of life support, resulting in individuals who once brought back only sought to destroy themselves.Their failure was documented and reported, and the project was abandoned. The Chemical Compound was ordered to be destroyed. Most of the viral chemical was incinerated, but a few vials were stolen and hidden by two units in belief the project still had a chance for success. In secret, they reviewed notes and tried experiments on rats for only a few more days, until they too had given up, primarily out of fear of being discovered for disobeying orders. In their haste to dispose of the evidence of their tampering, it is assumed that the two units somehow infected a part of the cities water supply or the rodents living in the city through unsafe discarding of the virus and accompanying chemicals. Overrun As the virus silently slipped into several of the cities citizens, and gradually made its way into the lower ranking DCA, it had also made contact with Neurosites. Rats were a source of food for the severely desperate, Neurosites and anti-citizen alike. The viral chemical, now reunited with it's ancestor virus, created the first strain of "Type-B" virus. Neurosites that instead of producing their typical body ravaging yellow puss, now mutated to produce a natural version of the safer mixture the DCA had created. A mixture that no longer degraded the brain and body to point of near shambling uselessness, while keeping all of the regenerative properties of the original Xectite fluid. The first Neurosite attack began on a man sleeping in the sewers, hiding from the Dominion to avoid punishment for stealing much needed food. A "fast" Neurosite shrieked, and latched to the mans head before he could react. In two hours, his body was under the control of the first Type-B, and it began seeking to 'reproduce'. It should be noted that another mutation must have occurred, allowing the parasite to repress the hosts normally instinctive urge to destroy itself, somehow taking control of increased intelligence but repressing self awareness and destructive immunal response. The creature swept through the sewers, slashing at weak homeless citizens, paving the way for Neurosites to cling on to the injured hosts. In 2 hours, the population of Type-B rose to 16, and the once injured civilian bodies found themselves rejuvenated in their now Xectite form. They organized themselves with their new-found intelligence. An attack was launched on the poorest section of the city, full of crowded apartments. Massacre after massacre ensued, room by room. By the time the DCA knew of the attack, the Type-B population had gone above 70. The high command gathered, DvL's and EpU's, ordering all enlisted into the city to prepare defenses. Citizens were told to stay inside their apartments, although many lacked any means of protecting themselves. When the HAF and High Command finally reached the rally point; only a handful of enlisted units were there. It appeared that the infection had reached several of the cities units, incapacitating them in some way and making them unfit for combat. The Type-B's now growing army rushed through the main parts of the city, slaughtering confused citizens, scooping up enlisted rank DCA units, and using the apartments as essentially recruitment hubs, busting down door after door. The vastly out numbered high command and HAF retreated time and time again, all the way back to the nexus, their numbers vastly declining as the Type-B's grew. The Ascension began to succumb to infection, those not utterly destroyed by fighting now becoming unstoppable masses of strength and heavy armor. It was obvious the DCA would lose by now. The High-Command began to evacuate, the remaining units now with only a few EpU's as leaders were thrown into panic and confusion making last ditch efforts all across the city and nexus. Rooftops were climbed, APC's pried open like tin-cans, citizens dragged out of prison cells and ripped apart. Once the battle was over, all the bodies had become an endless breeding ground for the new army of Xectites. They had conquered their first city, and were set on finding more. It is confirmed the Sectoral Commander, CmD, and Helix, Nova, and Ghost divisional escaped to the Dominion Capital. The CORE DvL was reported MIA, last seen organizing a line of defense in a CWU store. Rumors have surfaced that aerial recon shows missing APC's, and reports of Protection Center 11 escaped DCA appearing in other cities have surfaced. Some citizens also were have said to made it out. After the major loss of life, the Sectoral and Helix DvL were blamed for the out break. The Sectoral was deserviced by Ambassador Whalen personally, and the Helix DvL was stripped of rank and forced into HAF service. The CmD was heavily questioned by CENTCOMM about the incident, and was subsequently reassigned. Expansion of the Type-B Months later, after the High command of nearby cities was well aware of the incident, the Type-B were on the move. Reports of speaking Xectites popped up in Protection Center 18 and Protection Center 45. During slum sweeps, dismembered bodies were found to be strung to catwalks and ceilings with their own organs. The Type-B's had spread their reach, and were now toying with the populace . Eventually they were reported by the DCA massing in Protection Center 18 in large number, resulting in all citizens and DCA there being temporarily evacuated well before any Xectite attack, and everyone was relocated to Protection Center 45. A large Ascension force entered Protection Center 18. They took casualties, but ultimately cleared the city of the Type-B Xectites. While there were occasional reports of sightings in the years that followed, they were never again sighted in large numbers. Turning Inward Before Dethrone, with the IDn still having earth securely in it's grasp, the Type-B's had been mostly quiet and posed little threat after their massive defeat in PC 18. Though they had not vanished completely, it seemed they only had the numbers to harass the occasional wasteland recon group or pester the weekly convoys on the roads. Some HELIX divisions approved independent studies of them across the Eurasian cities, but for the most part, they were considered low priority, and Whalen made it very clear that they were no longer to be tampered with in any lab. Any units performing anything other than basic anatomy work were to be cast off as traitors for putting their city in danger. For the time being, it seemed PC11 had fallen and taken the secrets of the Type-b's with it, for the city was never ordered to be cleared, retaken, or even scouted by the IDn. Left alone by the outside world, the Type-b's with their slightly more than primitive intelligence, suddenly found their attentions turned inward. In the confines of Protection Center 11's walls, something of a very prehistoric society began to creep forward. Many physically and mentally powerful units were killed in the battle for PC 11, and once they fell, they shortly thereafter joined the side they were previously shooting at. 01's, EpU's, HAF, even KING units, eventually found their way out of the nexus, and shambled onto the streets. The Xectites who had claimed only meager malnourished citizens for hosts found themselves drawn to these augmented, large Dominion-zombies, and it did not take long for the once IDn converts to realize they were being followed. With little else to do, their simple minds found pleasure in only having the most respect, being the biggest, the strongest. The HAF and DCA bodies, acting more on their own altered brains accord than the orders of their parasitic hosts, began to spar and fight one another until the opponent died or backed down, the winners prize being the new loyalty of all the lesser type-b's. This repeated over and over until city 11's several districts all seemed to be led by a hulking, bloody and scarred former KING unit, or a nimble former GHOST EpU. At times, the leaders of these districts would clash, one trying to best the other, but having nearly identical augmentations, all off these dominance driven confrontations began to end in stalemates, sometimes lasting for days. Eventually through their fighting, all of the Type-b leaders gained a simple mutual "respect" for one another, and these imaginary borders of theirs had dissolved. No longer would the hundreds of individual neurotics simply roam and defecate and screech without direction, they now all fell in under the guidance of the strongest and brightest Type-b's. These dominant 17 Alpha Xectites began to interact rather often in their environment due to what must have been boredom, and would then slowly spread their findings to one another. One figured out how to open a car door, another learned how to turn on a stun-stick, a third simply listened to the emergency broadcasts and repeated them, unwittingly honing it's speech skills, as nobody had remained alive to turn them off. And of course, like an army of small children, their flock of lesser minded followers copied whatever they saw the Alphas do, and as such, learned traces of what they learned. A long period of poking at the ins and outs of their city piece by piece had granted not only the Alphas, but the Type-B population as a whole, a new generation of increased motor functionality, communication skill, intelligence, and overall ruthlessness. The type-b's now seemed to be internally motivated by their own brains, and began finding ways to remove their parasitic hosts, yanking them off and treating them more like companions or pets. A few months before dethrone, the Type-b's began to slowly convert city 11 into a highly efficient breeding ground. They organized outbound wasteland groups, learned to go in different directions at different times, and used their new brain power to wreck havoc on the unsuspecting. They would find small refugee and Liberation Front settlements, wait until nightfall, and send in individual Neurosites to attack people in their sleep. Once, or if, an alarm was raised, the Type-b's would rush through the darkness and slaughter any hastily formed defense. When it was all over, any converted humans would simply walk back with the horde, and sometimes the type-b's would task the strongest of the group to carry bodies back to Protection Center 11. Their numbers bolstered slightly, though not much, as only few groups dared to try and survive outside the unions walls. Eventually, human life was non-existent in a 20 mile radius around Protection Center 11. Still primarily driven by the united desire to grow their numbers, the Type-b's grew restless and unsatisfied by the small number of 'recruits.' However, all that time growing in a different way within the walls would soon pay off, as Dethrone was coming, and so was their second chance. The Pack Once Dethrone had begun, the chaos that would follow couldn't be kept a secret even from the isolated colony of Type-B's. It was not immediate - sometimes vehicles of various kinds would pass near the city, and the type-b's would stop and listen to the murmurs of engines. Then, the groups that roamed the wastelands would murmur in their rusty voices of seeing stray cars traveling roads, wandering 'giant crabs'- autonomous striders, and unusually loud noises breaking the silence they were so used to. Soon, the wasteland hunters brought back not only garbled stories, but converts, bodies, more and more with each day that passed. First only citizens, then a number of DCA. For reasons unknown to them, several humans had suddenly started trespassing in their territory, and now they had to pay. The Type-B's began leaving their nest in full force, and coming back home with more success than ever. Poorly armed and starving groups of refugees made for easy targets. Armed DCA were often alone or in pairs. The roads, once too dangerous to try and ambush due to heavy IDn vehicles, now had suddenly come to life with the slow clunker of cars and people on bicycles. The type-b's were more than pleased, simply hiding in the road side and in old vehicle wreckage, allowing their prey to come right to them. It soon became apparent to the Xectites that their home could not house both city 11's initial population, /and/ the strange new influx of confused and poorly armed humans. In a meeting of grunts and garble between the 17 Alpha type-b's, it was somehow concluded that 7 of them wanted to leave. And so they did, taking a decent chunk of the type-b population with them, scattering into the wastes every which way with their followers. Their journeys and destinations are largely unknown, though many have reported seeing old suburbs, blown out pre-war cities, sewers. and other sheltered ruins covered with blood and echoing with wild howling, suggesting perhaps those initial 7 may have settled in smaller hives across Eurasia if they survived. The wandering survivors of dethrone, refugee and DCA alike, began to warn one another of the area, and many began to simply take massive detours to avoid it. The rise of the New Union led to the eventual eradication of many of the Type-B hives in Eurasia. Protection Center 11 was completely purged of the creatures, as were all of the new colonies discovered who had previously headed in other directions. The Type-B was assumed completely destroyed, until they would again appear alongside the New Union as it expanded to North America. Resurfacing Some time after the New Union settled into the east coast of the former USA, particularly in a former National Guard Base (NGB), Type-B activity was discovered and reported by New Union patrols. Eventually it was found out that a Type-B presence was growing within the deeply hidden underground canal systems, sewers, and channel locks. A New Union fugitive, SSG. Anderson, was chased by Liveth (Then EpU 84674), into the entrance of one such system, and was not later seen again by the New Union until far later in their expansion. To fully secure Wes_1, later known as Wes_HQ, the New Union had to clear out a former urban industrial sector, which housed an initially slumbering hive of Type-B's. Initially the New Union held off heavy offensive measures, as the Type-B's had not yet attacked the new outpost, and the Industrial sector, if captured in tact, would be extremely beneficial for the New Union to possess. However, as the outpost grew and attracted larger amounts of New Union activity, the Type B's began to harass the outpost, and the industrial sector was ordered to be first bombed, then assaulted. The ground assault was headed by Cassandra Welland (then Honor guard One under the NU), which resulted in the successful expulsion of Type-Bs from the area, however not before the air raids had nearly leveled the entire sector, resulting in a lengthy reconstruction process as Wes_1 was ordered to become Wes_HQ. This fiery attack against the Type-Bs seemed to prompt a slow and gradual retaliation by them, targeted specifically at the New Union. The Type-Bs were discovered by the New Union to be converging via large fires which produced massive amounts of smoke, signaling one another to convene and head a certain direction. This apparently spanned for several dozen miles, as the eventual target was the eastern NGB that still housed a hidden horde of its own, which the New Union at the time was unaware of. Type-Bs who fled the Midwest merged with Type-Bs from the east, and together, they rolled quickly and violently over the NGB, then under the temporary command of 00707. The NGB was lightly manned and defended at the time, as New Union forces were diverted heavily westward for expansion efforts. A group stationed at WES_1 was able to send a hasty warning to the NGB as soon as they were able to decipher the Type-B's intentions. 00707, trusting the particular units responsible for the warning, took it at face value and ordered an immediate evacuation of the area as it was unclear how much time they still had, or if quickly formed defense measures were even possible. The Units had less time than anticipated, and only a partial evacuation was able to be completed. A sizable conjoined horde rolled swiftly over the NGB, and while the few units who yet remained rallied behind 00707 and fought valiantly, inflicting massive causalities to the horde; most of the New Union forces who did not escape were killed or went missing. 00707 herself was later found by a New Union recovery team, a considerable distance from the actual HQ building itself. Unconscious and surrounded by deceased Type-B's, the exact circumstances of her particular survival of the event remained unclear. Peculiarly, the Type-B's did not hang around to convert the New Unions dead, or garrison the NGB - suggesting they may have been intelligent enough to foresee New Union reinforcement and counter attack. Following the ransacking of the NGB, the Type-Bs remained unseen for a time until they were again encountered around Wes_3, alongside accompanying sightings of SSG. Anderson. A single skirmish occurred between Anderson and the Type-Bs against figures such as Agnost and Liveth, before the Type - Bs seemed to withdraw from Wes_3 entirely, where Liveth was then able to destroy the small hive they built in a decrepit community center. From this point, until the Fall of Protection Center 33, the Type-B's virtually ceased to exist. Anderson's Army mmyeah, nevermind this entire arc, mmyeah, will put the one about the norguard in instead laterCategory:Factions